Goodbye Charleston!

The time has come to say goodbye to Charleston and my special dog pals.

My final tourist activity was to go to beautiful Boone Plantation. I felt that a visit to the south would be incomplete without seeing a plantation and learning not only about plantation life but also more about how slavery impacted that industry.

You approach Boone Plantation along a road covered with 300+ year old live oaks which have formed an archway over the road – so impressive! The plantation is gorgeous and visitors are allowed to tour the first floor of the home as the upstairs is still owner occupied. It was all decked out for Christmas and it was stunning – sadly photography was not allowed inside. There are beautiful gardens and I can only imagine how colorful and amazing they must be during the season.

To the left of the "Big House" there was a row of 9 slave cabins, each of which contained a specific exhibit about some part of the slave life or culture. Interesting and awful all at the same time. They had a woman who was descendent of slaves give a fascinating presentation on slave life and Gullah culture – definitely the highlight of the visit. Rounded out the tour by checking out the stables – their claim to fame is that the triple Crown winning thoroughbred Secretariat spent time there and was sired by one of their horses. Sadly because of heavy rains the day before I was not able to take a ride through the 700+ acres but it was a beautiful day and an interesting experience.

This afternoon Im heading to Germany for my Aunts funeral so I likely will not be posting for a few days. I return late Sunday 12/17, will stay in Charleston with my fabulous dog-mom friend, and then I head out super early Monday morning as I have to power drive to Sarasota (10+ hours) so that I am there in time to start a new dog sit on Tuesday the 19th. No rest for the weary! The good news is that I did get some Cmas shopping done. Hope everyone is getting ready for the Holidays without too much stress!